Metro's HOT lanes open early in year

Updated 11:46 pm, Friday, January 6, 2012

Solo drivers willing to pay extra to breeze through heavy traffic could get their chance soon, with Metro expected to start opening its high-occupancy toll lanes early this year.

Metro officials had previously projected a January start to the high-occupancy toll lanes but now say they don't have a specific date, agency spokesman Jerome Gray said Friday by email.

"We are undergoing final testing of the infrastructure," Gray said. "In addition, we are completing the integration of the toll processing with HCTRA (Harris County Toll Road Authority). Once that is complete we should be ready to go."

When HOT lane service begins, tolls will vary by a set schedule between $1 and $4.50, depending upon the time of day.

The agency's first such toll lanes will be in the Gulf Freeway's existing high-occupancy vehicle lanes between Dixie Farm Road and Dowling Street.

Inbound lanes will be available to solo drivers for a fee Monday through Friday, between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m., except for the 7-8 a.m. hour when the lanes will remain HOV-only due to anticipated heavy congestion, Metro said.

Outbound HOT lanes will be available weekdays from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., except between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday is scheduled to vote on an agreement with the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which will make payment less complicated for drivers who already have a toll-road windshield sticker.

"It allows HCTRA EZ Tag customers to be able to use the Metro lanes without having to get a second tag," said toll road authority spokesman Eric Hanson.

Metro's planned tolls are higher than those the toll road authority charges on the Katy Freeway managed lanes, where tolls range from 30 cents on weekends to $1.60 at certain peak hours.

Those tolls produced more than $5.9 million in revenue from March through November, Hanson said.

Metro's tolls will apply only to drivers with no passengers who opt to use the HOV lanes for a price. Single-occupant vehicles will enter the lane through a designated path that allows tolling.

Vehicles with at least two occupants will not be charged a toll.

Booth attendants will monitor the number of passengers in vehicles entering the HOT lanes, and Metro police will patrol the lanes.

Violators who evade the toll will be assessed a $75 fine, while "occupancy violators" (solo drivers who use the lanes when they are designated for HOV use only) will be issued a citation requiring a court appearance.

When complete by early 2013, Metro's 83-mile HOT-lane system will include tolled lanes on U.S. 59 South, I-45 North, U.S. 290 and U.S. 59 North.